I started reading in the middle of this series and keep meaning to go back and read the beginning books but to date have not managed that yet. That said, I don't feel I am missing out on any enjoyment not having completed this task.
This book, like the previous two gripped me from the start, drew me in and kept hold of my attention nicely throughout. It's quite dark in tone, definitely not your bulk standard police procedural and it was lovely to get my teeth into it. It's a bit convoluted at times and I had to have my wits about me throughout but it all came together brilliantly at the end.
So, it's festival time in Glasgow and so the city is gearing up for that with the people getting into the mood for fun and frivolity. What they really don't need is what happens next. A young woman is found in a bit of a state claiming she has been abducted by aliens, she is asking for DI Anderson but he has no idea why. Then Anderson and Costello (yes, I still find myself reading Abbott and Costello - Who's on first base?) get embroiled with the body of a young man stuffed into a tea chest. There's a missing boy, but is it he who they have found. The action then switches to a care home, the same one housing Costello's Fiscal friend's wife, where we meet an ageing opera singer and her son and the people who care for them. And then, it gets even more convoluted and to say any more would be all kinds of spoilery and wrong. I will just mention that all is not right within the Police Force and it soon becomes evident that things are more political than they should be and that the powers that be are doing more to hinder rather than help the investigations.
Well, this was a read and a half for me. It had just about everything I want from a book. An interesting case, many threads that meander along merging, crossing and splitting several times before they all come together at the end. It was definitely a story that I am glad I could read practically straight through with not many life interruptions as when I did have to put it down, I pined for the time when I could pick it up again. I did guess a few things along the way but I was never quite there with guessing the outcome but, when it came, although shocking, was extremely well worked out.
I do love it when we have opposites teamed together and you can't really get more opposite than our two heroes here. Anderson and Costello are so chalk and cheese but their professional relationship just works. There is enough middle ground to get them through their cases and the fact that they are both a bit anti-establishment means that together they have more common enemies than just the villains they are hunting!
The pacing is frenetic, it really does go along at a fair lick but there are the quieter moments which gave me much needed respite to reflect and regroup. There is enough description to enhance the story but not to much that it intrudes.
Characterisation is brilliant. We have quite a large cast here in this book but all are very well drawn and easy to connect with on some level. With so many secrets and lies flying about here, I had a big pool of suspects to narrow down and connect together but i never got overwhelmed and every cast member served their own individual purpose.
All in all, a thoroughly satisfying read that left me completely satisfied. I always worry when series get this long as sometimes they tend to get tired but I see no evidence of this happening with this series any time soon.

My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

DCI Anderson and DI Costello are investigating the disappearance of a young lady called Paige Riley, and trying to make sense of girl who believes she has been abducted by aliens. As this is happening the body of a man is discovered in a refuse bin. There is also the ongoing search for Paul Kerr whose mother Irene fears that he may be the body in the bin. This was not a story I particularly enjoyed and at times I found the writing somewhat confusing. Having said that I did love the events and residents of Athole House.."home for the retired stars of stage and screen" and in particular the Duchess who was looked after and cared for by her son and care assistant Sandra..."He always dressed the Duchess in the style of the women she admired; Jackie Onassis, the Queen, Walls Simpson..." The intentions of Sandra and the hilarity and sadness of the paying elderly guests were to me the high points in a plot that I found at times very difficult to engage with..."Enjoy the scenery as you fill up your incontinence pads and ring bells that nobody ever answers so you are left to rot and decay in some old stinking armchair, the TV left on, sound blaring and the same episode of Deal or No Deal playing over and over again..." Thanks to the good people of netgalley for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written.

Caro Ramsay writes brilliant dark, disturbing and twisted police procedurals. I have read every single one of them and we are now on the eighth Anderson and Costello, set in the mean streets of Glasgow. It begins with a horrifying fatal housefire in 1989. In the present, the crowds are out for the annual West End Festival Parades. A young woman, Amy Niven, is looking for DCI Colin Anderson to inform him she was abducted by aliens. Anderson is worried about Paige Riley, a missing homeless girl, and his policing future of leading a cold case unit. MSP James Kirkton, is a venal media hungry politician and police czar, viewed with cynicism by a police force facing ever more budget cuts. Kirkton is gunning to bring down Anderson and using the media to get at him. DI Costello is involved with the procurator fiscal, Archie Walker, and the pair are visiting Pippa, his dementia suffering wife, at Athole House Secure Living Facility for the rich retired stars of screen and stage. The body of a young man is discovered folded into a tea chest outside Athole House.

There are concerns that the body in the chest is the missing David Kerr, last seen on CCTV being assisted by a unknown blonde woman. Victims are being injected with a drug that incapacitates quickly and then going missing, with the exception of Amy Niven, the badly injured DCI Alastair Jeffries. An envious Sandra Ryme, petty thief and care worker, takes care of the Duchess, apparently once a opera singer, who has a doting and devoted son, Paulo, who makes daily visits to Athole House. An ambitious Sandra has plans to ensure that her future is more grandiose and more personally fulfilling than her past. The investigation connects to the death of a young man killed by a punch in 1999 and a present day fire at a former puppet theatre. This is a case with a myriad of threads that slowly begin to link together as the sins of the past trigger gruesome repercussions in the present.

This is a terrific story that weaves around the strange and odd goings on at Athole House. In a well plotted story with a suspense driven and tense narrative. The partnership and relationship of Anderson and Costello is a sight to behold with their opposing personalities. The edgy DI Costello is a source of much amusement in her no hold barred approach to anyone, irrespective of who they are, and that includes her encounter with James Kirkton. A superb and compelling read that I recommend highly to crime fiction fans. Thanks to Severn House for an ARC.

Excellent book. Great main characters and plot. I would recommend this book.

Summer in Glasgow, and time for the West End Festival Parade. The local police are on alert for potential terrorism activity but some cases carry on as normal.
Paige Riley, a homeless heroin addict, has been missing for over a week. Another young woman hands herself into the station, asking for DCI Anderson, relating a story of being abducted by aliens. A young man has also vanished from the streets of the festival. And then a body is found – folded over in a packing crate.
What seems to be a series of unrelated incidents soon become inextricably linked as it is clear that someone is using the chaos of the festival to carry out a sinister and macabre plan.
This is the eighth Anderson and Costello mystery – the third for me, after The Tears Of Angels and Rat Run. I enjoyed those two, the first more than the second, but unfortunately, this one comes up a little short of those.
I suppose the problem is that it is rather uneven. The opening section of the book is mostly set-up. At this point, we don’t have an inkling of the grand scheme of things, although there is a vague hint on the cover, and we balance the investigation with the personal lives of the two leads. Anderson has got over his traumas of recent books and has settled into his job again, while Costello’s romantic life is at the forefront of the side-plot involving a nursing home – a side-plot that obviously becomes more important as the tale progresses.
Once the reveal as to what might be happening occurs, though, the murderer was, to me, very obvious, with the attempt to hide them not working. One or two other suspects closer to the… necessary description, shall we say, might have helped. And then when we get to the finale, it really becomes strange indeed. But, you know, spoilers and all that.
I think fans of the series will find a lot to enjoy here – the over-the-top-ness of the scheme resembles the scale of The Tears Of Angels, if I recall correctly – but this one didn’t quite click for me. Worth A Look, but I’d start elsewhere in the series if you’re new to Anderson & Costello.
Many thanks to Severn House for the review copy.

All in all, a pretty good police procedural set around the West End Festival in modern Glasgow, containing plenty of wry Scottish humour such as “Kirkton had one huge talent … he was an expert at multi-tasking; he could walk and talk shite at the same time”; along with a kitchen clock with wildlife illustrations at each numeral, with the current time being described as “otter to fox, twenty to twelve.”

A large portion of the book is concerned with the involvement of a carer in a nursing/old folks home, with no obvious reason until the very end, but the linkage seems very coincidental indeed.

My only gripe was that the conclusion of the novel was all brought about in a bit of a rush – almost as though the author had reached the expected word count that the publisher had agreed to.

Number 8 in the Anderson and Costello series...the best yet! What a plot, albeit a little improbable, and what an ending. I don't know where to start reviewing this book so just get a copy and start at chapter one! Plenty of action and plenty of suspense which will draw you in to this well written thriller set in the west end of Glasgow. Enough twists and turns to keep you riveted to the epilogue. I loved it, and thank you Net Galley for my copy. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I reviewed on Goodreads and Facebook.

A very clever, complex and darkly twisted police procedural based in Glasgow that will keep you guessing until the very end.
Almost a five star read but for me lacking the more realistic Scottish dialogue.

4 and 1 / 2 stars

The people of Glasgow are gearing up for the annual West End Festival. At the same time, Amy Niven wanders through the parade and into the police station reporting that she had been abducted by aliens the night before. She wants to see DCI Colin Anderson.

What truly happened to Amy? And what about the body in the chest?

As DCI Anderson and DI Costello investigate the case, a body is found. Is there a connection to Amy’s case? Anderson has been tagged as the head of the cold cases unit.

James “Klingon” Kirkton is a local politician who has been assigned to review Police Scotland. He has all sorts of grand ideas, few of which make much sense. He’s always ready to face the cameras though.

While this book appears to be going every which way, it all ties together in the end. This is a fast-paced read with plenty of action and suspense. It is both well written and plotted.

This is my first Caro Ramsay novel, but it won’t be my last. I truly enjoyed the twists and turns in this book.

I want to thank Netgalley and Severn House/Severn House Publishers for forwarding to me a copy of this great book to read.

28/2/17 Standing Still

*****

I would like to thank Netgalley and Severn House Publishers for an advance copy of Standing Still, the eighth Glasgow based police procedural to feature DCI Anderson and DI Costello.

It's all go at the Partickhill Major Crimes Unit. It's the first day of the West End festival when a young woman enters the station asking for DCI Anderson and claiming she has been abducted by aliens. She has been drugged and injured but before they can get to the bottom of her story they are called out to a dead body, found in a tea chest with similar injuries to Amy, the alien abductee and they're still trying to find a homeless girl, missing for a week. This is just the start.

I thoroughly enjoyed Standing Still which drew me in from the start and never let go. On reflection the plot may be a little improbable but I didn't notice at the time as I was too busy trying to keep up with all the twists, turns and connections. It starts off at a rattling pace and never lets up with new information in every chapter. I did guess one of the twists earlier than the police but due to Ms Ramsay's skill it took a while and I had no idea why. The police investigation is intercut with scenes from a nursing home for wealthy former performers, told from the point of view of one of the carers, Sarah, but why they are there is not revealed until the end. Normally this approach annoys me but in this novel I found it intriguing as Sarah is such a well drawn character in her petty thieving and ill conceived plotting.

Colin Anderson is the main protagonist, leading the investigation and receiving some undeserved hostility from a local politician. It is this hostility which leads the team to question his motives. More intrigue. Anderson is now a contented man, rich enough from an inheritance to lead the life he chooses which is that of a kindly, smart, empathetic detective. He leaves the bulldog tactics to Costello whom we don't see enough of in the novel. She is extremely direct and her acerbic wit is very Glaswegian and very funny.

I am biased towards liking novels set in my old home town of Glasgow as I can recognise the landmarks (I drank in The Rock a few times in the 80s and it's hard to imagine a pub keeping the same name for so long!) but I think Ms Ramsay has done a good job with the setting and I can picture most of it.

Standing Still is a great read and I have no hesitation in recommending it.

Sandra is a 30-something woman desperate to escape her life. Perpetually broke & living in a council flat, she works as a care giver at a facility for wealthy, retired artists. Her charge is the Duchess, an elegant woman slowly succumbing to old age. But Sandra has a plan. One that includes the Duchess’ jewelry & her handsome companion Paolo.

Paolo is an enigmatic young man who visits the Duchess daily. No one is really sure how they’re related or why he seems to have so much influence with the facility’s owners.

Chief Procurator Fiscal Archie Walker has finally given up trying to care for his ailing wife. To ensure her safety, he got her into an expensive facility for retired artists. Now he can sleep at night & maybe see a bit more of DI Costello.

Amy Niven is a young woman on a mission. You see, she was partying with friends last night when she was abducted by aliens. All she remembers is she must get a message to DCI Colin Anderson.

DCI Anderson is back on the job after a tumultuous few months. He’s well aware there are colleagues just waiting for him to screw up & there are rumours he’ll be “promoted” to head of cold cases. The last thing he needs is to sit down with some drug addled party girl & discuss the merits of alien abduction.

James Kirkton is a politician who’s always camera ready. He’s recently been given the police services portfolio & is determined to make some changes. First up is making sure Anderson never gets anywhere near the cold case unit.

It’s the first day of Glasgow’s annual West End Festival & the loons are out in full force. The cops of Patrickhill Sta. are ready for the usual booze fuelled shenanigans but….a body nailed inside a tea chest? That’s a first.

Don your deerstalker & grab your magnifying glass. You’re going to need them to untangle this twisty murder mystery. The book begins with a fatal house fire in 1989. In the present, we meet the cast in separate story lines linked by a character or location.

Anderson & Costello’s investigation begins with the body but soon heads off in directions neither could have foreseen. There are myriad connections waiting to be uncovered & several of the characters have their own agendas. Thanks to multiple narrators, we have a wider view of what’s going on in this little patch of Glasgow. Still, it’s not until the final pages that we know who is a hunter & who is prey.

This is book #8 of the series & driven by the yin & yang pairing of Anderson & Costello. Anderson has undergone huge change in his private life & is the duo’s diplomat. Costello is a smart, blunt cop who believes everyone is entitled to her inside voice. Her attitude provides a dark humour & edginess, particularly in conversations with Kirkton the Git (sorry, did I say that out loud?).

There are so many separate threads & you may be surprised once they’re all tied up. It’s a story that will mess with your head & that ending…..a wee beverage before hitting the last couple of chapters might be a good idea. Purely for medicinal purposes.